MCA Scuttlebutt

Hey, Scuttlebutt listeners. Thank you for joining us and your continued support. Well, here we are, episode 200. We can say with all sincerity that this milestone is as much of a surprise to us as I’m sure it is to you. But, we are so thankful for your support and for giving us an excuse to run our soup coolers for an hour a week. And as a thank you to our listeners for continuing to tune in every week, we’ve got a great guest for you this week.   We honestly wrestled with how we were going to approach our 200th. Were we going to do something in-house? Do a panel of our favorite guests? Well, I think we nailed it. For our 200th episode, we bring a treat to your ear holes, 1stSgt Chase McGrorty-Hunter. It would be a lie if I told you that we planned this (as I’m sure many of you are aware, there is very little planning that goes into what we do)  because it’s actually amazing that we waited 200 episodes to have Chase on. But as fate would have it, Chase was back in the Q-Town area and was generous with his time to come into the studio to have a little chin wag. And wag chins we did. Chase has an extensive body of work that can’t be contained in the limits of this show description but he talks with us about his journey to the yellow footprints, the value of not just professional military education but continuing education in general, and his future projects and leadership vision for enlisted Marines. We’re so happy to share this conversation with you all and are so happy this worked out to be our 200th episode.   instagram.com/chase_hunter  linkedin.com/in/chase-mcgrorty-hunter-2a3ba9ab  threads.com/@bayonet_warfighting_society  instagram.com/bayonet_warfighting_society  https://www.mca-marines.org/wp-content/uploads/LNK-November-2022.pdf <p>The post #200: Capturing the Narrative with 1stSgt Chase McGrorty-Hunter first appeared on Marine Corps Association.</p>

Hey, Scuttlebutt listeners. Thank you for joining us and your continued support. This week, we welcome Jonathan “JT” Taylor to the show. JT is a retired sergeant, a former scout sniper, and the President of the Scout Sniper Association. And at the time of the recording, JT was submitting a package to History Division to be confirmed as having the longest confirmed kill in Marine Corps history. Even more amazing than that is his work with the Scout Sniper Association. JT embodies the ethos of no Marine left behind and he and his brethren at the Scout Sniper Association are dedicated to making sure that this is true for the Marine scout sniper community. As a veteran support organization, they focus on not only maintaining the brotherhood that veteran Marines felt while in uniform, but also looking out for one another, even though they may be thousands of miles away. JT talks to us about hog calls, reunions, family support, and even raising funds to ensure their members can make their house payments. I mean, one of the first buttons you see on the home page of their website is: Request Help. JT has a great story, and we’re thrilled he came on to tell it. scoutsniper.org <p>The post #199: Telling the Scout Sniper story with the President of the Scout Sniper Association, Jonathan “JT” Taylor first appeared on Marine Corps Association.</p>

Hey, Scuttlebutt listeners. Thank you for joining us and your continued support. This week, we welcome Brian O’Hare to the show. Using the term “welcome to the show” is a bit of a misnomer for what is actually happening in this episode. It is more accurate to say that Brian welcomed us into his brain. And what a ride! This was one of the most fun episodes we’ve done as Brian is one of the most interesting people we’ve had the pleasure of speaking with. Trying to summarize the episode is an effort in futility, but the intent of bringing him on was to talk about his book, Surrender, and to get the story of his journey from Naval Academy midshipman to Marine to Hollywood renaissance man. What ended up happening was something that was that but also something so much more than we expected. Like stories of drinking with John Waters in Baltimore as a second lieutenant and ending up playing a convict in the movie Cry Baby. Please enjoy this wild ride with Brian O’Hare. We sure did.  Enjoy! <p>The post #198: Shenanigans with the author of the book Surrender, Brian O’Hare first appeared on Marine Corps Association.</p>

Hey, Scuttlebutt listeners. Thank you for joining us and your continued support. This week, we continue our Road to 250 segment, celebrating the Marine Corps’ 250th birthday in 2025. Over the next year, we’ll feature stories and history from throughout the 250 years of the Marine Corps. These episodes will be nested within the MCA’s overall Road to 250 Campaign, where you will find featured articles in both the Gazette and Leatherneck highlighting events and battles within specific periods in Marine Corps history. The MCA also has a commemorative Road to 250 coin collection. These commemorative challenge coins can only be found through the MCA. Go to marineshop.net to order individual coins or email customerservice@mca-marines.org to order the entire set or learn more. For June, we walk the Road to 250 with Gazette and Leatherneck Editor-In-Chief, Col Chris Woodbridge. Col Woodbridge talks to us about the significance of the Interwar Period, the impact of the global crises of the time, and how this period shaped the future trajectory of the Marine Corps. Enjoy! <p>The post #197: Road to 250 – The Interwar Period with Col Chris Woodbridge, USMC (Ret) first appeared on Marine Corps Association.</p>

In this engaging discussion, Dr. Ben Connable, an adjunct professor at Georgetown University and retired Marine intelligence officer, shares his extensive knowledge on modern warfare. He delves into the myths surrounding military conflicts, emphasizing the importance of cultural understanding and empirical research. Connable evaluates the limitations of drones in combat and critiques current military strategies, particularly regarding China. Moreover, he offers insights into the transition from military service to academia and the evolving dynamics of information operations in warfare.

Hey, Scuttlebutt listeners. Thank you for tuning in an your continued support. This week, we have another episode in our segment, Catching Up with Old Friends. In this episode, we welcome Will Schick back to the show. Will is one of the OGs. For those of us who grew up in the 80s and 90s, that has a very specific meaning, but for the context of a podcast, we’ll go with original guest. He was our fourth guest, so please go back and listen to Episode #4 to hear more about Will’s background and service. For those who missed it, Will is a former Marine intel officer and is currently the Director of Programs and Partnerships at the Asian American Journalists Association. It goes without saying we did a good bit of catching up, and it was great to hear all of the cool stuff Will is doing in journalism and mentoring the up-and-coming generation to help them navigate this fraught media landscape, and to hear his perspective on how we get information and consume media. Enjoy! <p>The post #195: Catching Up with Old Friends – Will Schick first appeared on Marine Corps Association.</p>

Hey, Scuttlebutt listeners. Thank you for joining us and your continued support. This week, we welcome the ballistician and co-creator of the 6.5 Creedmore, Dennis DeMille, to the show. Dennis is a veteran Marine mortarman who served as a drill instructor, was on the Marine Corps Shooting Team, and retired as a chief warrant officer before becoming the vice president of product development at Creedmore Sports (thus the name of the round) and is now the general manager of Tactical Walls. For those who don’t know, the 6.5 Creedmore is the current long-range precision rifle round for US Special Operations Command and the British Royal Marines. Basically, it’s the round bad asses use to do bad ass things. Dennis talks about his life before the Corps, his path from the shooting team to being the officer in charge of all the ranges at Camp Pendleton, and how the 6.5 Creedmore came to be. He has a really cool story about how it came to be named the 6.5 Creedmore and not the 6.5…DeMille. Enjoy! <p>The post #194: A Conversation with the Co-Creator of the 6.5 Creedmoor, Dennis DeMille first appeared on Marine Corps Association.</p>

Hey, Scuttlebutt listeners. This is episode 193. This week, we welcome August Cole to the show. August is the co-author of the books Ghost Fleet and Burn-In, managing partner of Useful Fiction, and a nonresident senior fellow in the Forward Defense practice of the Atlantic Council’s Scowcroft Center for Strategy and Security. We were lucky enough to catch August at Modern Day Marine, and he was kind enough to give us some time instead of calling security. Vic sits down with August (while suppressing his urge to just nerd out for the entire interview) to talk to him about the genesis behind his Useful Fiction project, the challenge of operating in a world where the lines between the hypothetical and reality are blurred, and how narrative can be a balm for the competition for attention in this current tech-proliferation ecosystem. August thrives in cautionary-tale spaces, but we caution you not to miss this one.  Enjoy! useful-fiction.com augustcole.com linkedin.com/in/august-cole <p>The post #193: Useful Fiction with August Cole from Modern Day Marine first appeared on Marine Corps Association.</p>

Hey, Scuttlebutt listeners. Thank you for joining us and your continued support. This week, we continue our Road to 250 segment, celebrating the Marine Corps’ 250th birthday in 2025. Over the next year, we’ll feature stories and history from throughout the 250 years of the Marine Corps. These episodes will be nested within the MCA’s overall Road to 250 Campaign, where you will find featured articles in both the Gazette and Leatherneck highlighting events and battles within specific periods in Marine Corps history. The MCA also has a commemorative Road to 250 coin collection. These commemorative challenge coins can only be found through the MCA. Go to marineshop.net to order individual coins or email customerservice@mca-marines.org to order the entire set or learn more. For May, we walk the Road to 250 with a Semper Cinema crossover. And we welcome our VP of Membership, Marketing, and Support, Michael Armistead, to try his hand at a movie review. William, Michael, and I have a great time breaking down the themes of the documentary, Devil Dogs, Hero Marines of WWI, which follows historian and honorary Marine, Gilles Lagin and his passion for preserving the legacy of the Marines who fought at Belleau Wood. Enjoy! <p>The post #192: Road to 250 – Semper Cinema review of Devil Dogs: Hero Marines of WWI first appeared on Marine Corps Association.</p>

Hey Scuttlebutt listeners. Thank you for tuning in and your continued support. This week we bring you another installment of our World of War(gaming) series with the Halo Infinite Team Captain of the All-Marine E-Sports Team, Gunnery Sergeant Matthew Springer. Gunny Springer talks to us about Marine E-Sports and how the Marine Corps has embraced the professional development application of gaming and wargaming. Certain circles throw around the term, reps and sets, so much it has become cliche, while giving the fuzzy eyebrow when the topic of video games comes up. Even supporters of wargaming tend to get prickly when talking video games. Gunny Springer is breaking the stigma that video games are just something Marines do while on libo, pregaming for a night out. He goes into the genesis behind the Marine Corps’ E-Sports teams, how he helped recruit and develop its members, and the Marine Corps’ support for their participation in competitions by making an All-Marine E-Sports team. The Commandant and Sergeant Major even attended the Call of Duty Endowment Bowl V in Washington D.C. to check them out. This was a fun conversation exploring how Marine continue to find ways to use their passion to hone their craft. Enjoy! Nominations for All-Marine E-Sports Team Leatherneck Magazine article Instagram <p>The post #191: World of War(gaming) talks the All-Marine E-Sports Team with GySgt Matthew Springer first appeared on Marine Corps Association.</p>